After nearly two decades of imprisonment in China, Christian pastor David Lin has been released and returned to the United States, the State Department confirmed on Monday.
Lin, 68, was convicted of contract fraud in 2006 and sentenced to life in prison. His detention had sparked widespread advocacy efforts, including from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Lin’s daughter, Alice, shared the joyful news with Bob Fu, founder of China Aid, an organization supporting persecuted Chinese activists.
“Praise God! We got the call late last night!!! Dad is free and over Alaska now,” she texted. According to AP, Lin has been reunited with his family after his long ordeal.
The President Joe Biden’s administration had been working for years to secure the release of Lin and other Americans wrongfully detained in China, raising these cases during diplomatic meetings with senior Chinese officials.
This included Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Laos earlier this year. The administration has made efforts to maintain communication with Beijing despite ongoing tensions.
“We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China. He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” said a State Department spokesperson.
According to China Aid, Lin frequently visited China in the 1990s to spread the Christian gospel. He sought official permission to carry out ministry work but was likely never granted the necessary license, as reported by AP.
In 2006, he was detained while assisting a church not authorised by Chinese authorities. Lin was formally arrested in 2009 on contract fraud charges and sentenced to life in prison, a crime he denied.
The charge is commonly used by Chinese authorities to target leaders of churches that operate outside state-sponsored religious groups.
The Dui Hua Foundation, which advocates for prisoners in China, notes that individuals leading or participating in churches not approved by the government often face intimidation, harassment, and lengthy prison terms.
China requires all Christian churches to pledge allegiance to the ruling Communist Party and register with the state. Congregations that do not comply are considered underground churches, operating illegally.
The Chinese government has long clamped down on such “unlawful preaching,” with the crackdown intensifying in recent years.
Lin’s sentence had been reduced, and he was due for release in April 2030. However, concerns about his declining health and safety while imprisoned were raised by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2019.
China’s foreign ministry is yet to comment on Lin’s release. Several other Americans remain detained in China. Among them are businessman Kai Li, held on charges of espionage, his family claims are false, and Mark Swidan, who was sentenced for drug offences.
The US government considers both cases to be examples of wrongful detention. Congressman Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called for their immediate release, describing Lin’s long imprisonment as part of a “rising trend of hostage diplomacy by authoritarians around the world.”
Family members of those still incarcerated, including Kai Li’s son, are expected to speak at a congressional hearing on Wednesday about Americans detained in China.
